Troy Aikman wants a raise.
If Fox Sports wants Aikman to call "Thursday Night Football" on top of his traditional Sunday afternoon game duties, the former Cowboys quarterback wants to be compensated, sources tell Sporting News.
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The popular, critically respected Aikman has a good argument given the way Fox and ESPN recently slobbered over Peyton Manning for Thursday Night and "Monday Night Football" duties. Entranced by Manning's appeal to Middle America, they were willing to pay him up to $10 million a year, SN reported in March. Manning turned them down because he didn't want to be a "critic" on games involving brother Eli, according to ProFootballTalk.
With Manning out of the picture, at least for this season, Fox is asking Aikman and Joe Buck to call its newly acquired "Thursday Night Football" package on top of their usual Sunday afternoon game duties. With Buck also calling the MLB playoffs and Word Series this fall, the duo are expected to cherry-pick the best TNF games and let other Fox announcers call some games here and there.
Both, however, are well aware how working Thursdays and Sundays burned out their TNF contemporaries at CBS and NBC the past few seasons. Moreover, Aikman is being asked to co-star on Fox's first NFL Draft simulcast Thursday night, with NFL Network's Rich Eisen and Mike Mayock.
Fox celebrated big time after taking TNF away from rivals CBS and NBC with a five-year, $3.3 billion contract agreement in January. Network executives announced last week their new pregame show, which will air on both Fox and NFL Network, will be headlined by Terry Bradshaw, Michael Strahan and Howie Long.
Stars of their caliber don't take on additional duties for free.
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"Doubling salary might be tough," said a source, "but a 50 percent raise? That sounds fair."
Landing the three Pro Football Hall of Famers was a key to making Fox's inaugural TNF show "appointment viewing," said Eric Shanks, president and executive producer for Fox Sports, who added, "Terry, Howie and Michael, along with our partners at NFL Network, will set the weekly tone."
So where does that leave Aikman and Buck, who are entering their 17th season together and are the NFL's longest-running broadcast team? Well, if Manning's not getting that eight-figure salary, Fox's on-air NFL talent wants management to reward the loyal troops who've turned "America's Game of the Week" and the "Fox NFL Sunday" into the nation's No. 1 overall TV show and pregame show.
When Aikman, 51, was asked about Manning's possible $10 million payday, he made some revealing comments to TMZ Sports .
"That means I'm worth a little more because I'm doing more games than he is," noted Aikman, who quarterbacked the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles.
Would Aikman ask for a raise if a network threw big bucks at Manning?
"Yeah, why not?" he replied.
Fox declined to comment for this story and Aikman could not be reached, but the New York Post reported Fox is hoping to finalize a TNF deal with Aikman and Buck by May.
The time may be right for Aikman to use some leverage. During an interview on Matt Mosley and Ed Werder's Cowboys-focused "Doomsday Podcast," he floated the idea of leaving broadcasting to follow in the footsteps of John Elway of the Broncos as an NFL general manager.
Aikman noted he joined Fox directly after retiring from the NFL in 2000. With five Super Bowls and nearly 20 years in the broadcast booth under his belt and his daughters soon heading off to college, he says he finds the idea of running a franchise intriguing.
“I think it’d be something I’d be really good at it," said Aikman. "The challenge of it would be the most compelling part. As a player I had beliefs of how a team should be run, the type of players that would be required.”
Are you listening, Fox?